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Your English Monthly

1-2011/2012

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Change Up! UPPER INTERMEDIATE

Art and Architecture

The Fantastical (New?) Salvador Dalí Museum St. Petersburg, Florida

Table of contents Profile

4 Buy Nothing Day

6

Environment

8

Art and Architecture

10

Cinema

12

Issue worksheet

14

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Music

2

Coldplay

Eco-friendly in Britain

The Fantastical (New?) Salvador DalĂ­ Museum St. Petersburg, Florida

THE MUPPETS RETURN

Letter to readers

Dear Readers, Not only are we at Sure eager to bring you

relevant news of the English –speaking world. We also like

The publisher is prepared to make payment for any copyright of photographs where the source has been impossible to trace.

Sometimes, we can bring you background on events—like prestigious awards—if it is not possible to cover the event itself. For example, with this issue number two, arriving on your desks in the autumn, we bring you a piece on the Man Booker awards in Literature, with background on the award.

We also decided that because the marriage of Prince William and Kate took place in the spring and it was not possible for us to cover it, we would bring you news of their first tour together as Prince and Princess. As to something up and coming which will surely be of interest, we chose the new muppet movie, opening this winter, which also gave us the opportunity of bringing you some historical background on the muppets and the important role they have played in education.

Our issue is full of varied and interesting material, all designed to inspire you to use your English to satisfy your curiosity and enhance your learning experiences. We trust that we succeed in this aim!

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Change Up magazine P.O.BOX 6 - 62019 Recanati (MC)

to bring you news that is timely.

However, as we go to press months in advance of your receiving the magazine, this is not always possible.

Enjoy.

Lisa Kramer Taruschio Editor-in-Chief

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Profile

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Buy Nothing Day

4

consume more than 80% of the earth’s natural resources. This causes disproportionate* environmental damage and an unfair distribution of wealth.

In addition, increasingly* large companies use cheap* labor in developing countries to produce goods because it costs less. But there are no systems in Now here is an original idea: a holi- these developing countries to protect day called Buy Nothing Day. It takes workers like there are in the west. place on different dates in the U.K. and the U.S.—but the idea is the So we need to question the products same. This is a day to close your wal- we buy and to challenge* the comlets* and purses, cut up your credit panies who produce them--because cards and give up the thing you there are risks* to real people and love best for 24 hours: shopping. to the environment, too. Recycling is fine for the environment, but it’s betSaturday November 26th 2011 is Buy ter to consume less. And Buy Nothing Nothing Day in the UK (in the U.S. it Day is a great way to start. takes place on the day after Thanks- giving). It’s a day where you, your No purchase* necessary! family and friends turn away from The best thing is - IT’S FREE!!! shopping and turn to life. The rules are simple: for 24 hours you stop Buy Nothing Day FAQ shopping. Anyone can take part. All What is Buy Nothing Day all they have to do is spend a day with- about? out spending!

Buy Nothing Day dares* consumer

culture NOT to shop at all for a day.

Everything we buy impacts on the en- Its a global STOP to consumerism - a vironment, so Buy Nothing Day em- holiday for some and a street party phasizes the environmental and ethi- for others! Anyone can take part cal consequences of consumerism. provided they spend a day without The developed countries, which make spending! up only 20% of the world population, What is so bad about shopping?

It’s not shopping in itself that’s so harmful*, it’s what we buy. As consumers, we should question the products we buy, the companies who produce them, the environmental damage* we cause, and the unfair* distribution of wealth among the western countries.

Why should owners of small shops support this effort?

Because in cities and towns everywhere the small shops are being forced to close in favor of large shopping malls. But local shops act as a community center and should be preserved. Buy Nothing Day promotes local business by doing things that the big brands* can’t do - holding a free food tasting day, or organizing a swap* shop, for example.

What about the environment?

Consumers are constantly forced to buy unnecessary packaging waste* that the big stores and supermarkets produce. Much of this waste is passed onto the consumer who has no choice at time of purchase. Superbrands offload* tons of packaging onto consumers who must then reclycling it. The challenge to supermarkets and big stores is to remove unnecessary packaging from their stores. The

buy and the impact it has on the environment.

Is Buy Nothing Day successful?

Absolutely, and it’s getting bigger and better every year!

What can you do as an individual?

Commit to consuming less! And check the Web site to see what else you can do.

Go to: http://www.buynothingday. co.uk/index.html

Glossary brands: names of products challenge: dare cheap: at low cost damage: harm dares: challenges disproportionate: unequal harmful: causing damage or injury increasingly: more and more offload: something which is unloaded or dumped purchase: that which one buys risk: hazard swap: exchange unfair: not just wallet: a small, personal portfolio in which money is kept waste: that which is useless or discarded

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raw materials and production methods that are used to make so many of our goods have harmful side affects such as toxic waste, destruction of wild life, and wasted energy.

Can one day without shopping really make a difference?

Buy Nothing Day isn’t about just one day - it’s a lasting commitment, maybe a life changing experience!

Buy Nothing Day should stay in your mind so you think about what you

5

Music

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Coldplay

6

Coldplay, the English alternative rock band, was formed in 1996 by lead* vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, who had first met during their orientation week at University College London (UCL) in September 1996. They spent the rest of the university year planning a band, ultimately forming a group called Pectoralz. Guy Berryman, a classmate of Martin and

Buckland, later joined the group and by 1997, they had renamed themselves Starfish, and were performing for local Camden promoters at small clubs. Martin had also recruited his longtime school friend Phil Harvey, who was studying classics at Oxford, to be the band’s manager.

Coldplay accepted Harvey as the fifth member of the group, and the band’s

line-up was complete when Will Champion joined to take up percussion duties*. Champion had grown up playing piano, guitar, bass, and tin whistle and he quickly learned the drums, although he had no previous experience. The band finally decided on the name “Coldplay” which had been suggested by Tim Crompton, a local student who had been using the name for his group.

In 1998, after renaming themselves Coldplay, the band released 500 copies of the Safety EP. Coldplay then made their first release*, the threetrack Brothers and Sisters EP, for the

won largely favorable reviews, earning several Grammy nominations and wins.

briefly* fired* from the band by Martin, who later begged* him to come back and because of his guilt, went on a drinking binge*. Eventually, the band settled their differences and made new rules to keep the group together. Inspired by other bands like U2 and R.E.M., Coldplay decided that they would operate as a democracy, and would share* profits equally.

Furthermore, the band decided they would fire anyone who used hard* drugs.

Coldplay actively support various social and political causes, including Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. They have also performed at various charity* projects such as Band Aid 20, Live 8, Sound Relief, Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Worldwide fame came in 2000 with the release of the single “Yellow”.

That same year, the group’s debut

As one of the world’s best-selling music artists, Coldplay have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

album Parachutes was released and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

The band’s second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, released in 2002, got favorable reviews and won multiple awards, including NME’s Album of the Year. It is considered one of the best of the Coldplay albums.

Glossary

Discography

• Parachutes (2000) • A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) • X&Y (2005) • Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008) • Fifth studio album (2011)

Awards and nominations:

independent label Fierce Panda. They recorded it over four days in February 1999.

After finishing their final exams at University in the spring of 1999, Coldplay signed* with Parlophone for a five-album contract*. The Blue Room was recorded in the same year and was their first release on a major label*, after signing to Parlophone.

The recording sessions for The Blue Room were wild: Champion was

Their next release, X&Y (2005), was met at first with mixed reviews. But the band’s fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008),

begged: pleaded binge: a session of excessive eating or drinking briefly: for a short time charity: provision of money or help for people in need contract: a legal agreement duties: responsibilities fired: dismissed from a job hard drugs. label: (here) name of a record company lead: main, principal release: (here) the act of making something (like a record) available share: use something along with others signed: put one’s signature to a document so that it becomes legally binding

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• Best British Group (three times) • MTV Video Music (four times) • Grammy Awards (seven times out of twenty nominations) • 2009: they received seven Grammy Award nominations at the 51st Grammy Awards, and won three.

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Environment

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Eco-friendly in Britain

8

A new campaign has been launched in Britain to sensitize the public to ‘green’ homes, or ecologically friendly homes. In several cities, families who live in energy saving homes open their houses to demonstrate how the technology works. One family in Cambridge has invested nearly 35,000 pounds (about 40,000 euro) in a fiveyear program for solar energy. They now save close to 30 pounds per month on their electricity and heating bills, even though their original plan was ecological and not economic.

In another instance, a family in Cambridge built a ‘green’ house purposely

to save money. It cost them 250 thousand pounds to build their three-bedroom house, 10% more than it would cost to build a traditional house, but their annual gas and water bill is 800 pounds, half of what it would be for a comparably sized home.

Transforming a conventional home into one that is energy saving is somewhat more complicated. Doubleglazing* on windows is a start; so is insulating floors and roofs and walls.

Another possibility is installing solar panels and more efficient hot water tanks. The British newspaper The Guardian has given some examples of

cost savings using ‘green’ measures.

To reduce the gas bill: have your gas heating system checked at a cost of 65 pounds; replace it with a more energy-efficient tank for 800 pounds; insulate the roof, 100 pounds; insulate the outside walls for between 450 and 1,500 pounds.

It seems that the cost of using energy saving solar panels is also falling fast.

According to the British paper The Guardian, by the year 2013 prices of solar panels will fall to half of what they cost in 2009. The figures come from a report by Ernest & Young, one of the world’s four largest accoun-

falling PV panel prices and rising fossil fuel* prices, large-scale solar installations will become cost-competitive without government support within a decade – sooner than is usually assumed.

The chairman of Britain’s Solar Trade Association, Howard Johns, said the new analysis supported the industry opinion that government support for all types of solar systems in the next few years makes good economic sense because it would build capacity and enable unsubsidised solar to be as widely used as possible as prices come down.

tancy* firms. This means that solar electricity will probably play a very important role in everyone’s future.

According to the report, the average one-time installation cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels has already dropped from more than $2 (£1.23) per unit in 2009 to about $1.50 in 2011. The report forecasts* that those prices will continue to decline, falling close to the $1 mark* in 2013.

Today, solar PV works economically in the UK for homeowners, businesses and investors only because the government subsidizes* them. But the new analysis suggests that thanks to

New data also shows a drop in the price of high-grade silicon, the raw material used in most PV panels. But the British government’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recently argued that solar was still too expensive to deserve serious consideration in the short term and that Britain should instead “buy in from overseas later”.

The lead author of the Ernst & Young report, Ben Warren, said the CCC’s view did not take into consideration the larger economic benefits of solar. “Being a laggard* has never been very successful in terms of capturing the greater share of the value added for the economy … if you create a sustainable* market, you will achieve*

cost savings and drive economic benefits in terms of tax income and job creation.”

To compare the relative cost of solar and other energy sources, analysts consider factors such as initial expenditure, fuel prices, maintenance and discount rates to calculate the cost of each unit of energy. The report predicts that the cost of large-scale solar will be no higher than retail energy prices by 2016-19. This may mean that within 10 years companies with large electricity demands will find it cheaper* to install unsubsidised solar than to buy energy in the traditional way.

British climate minister Greg Barker told the Guardian that Britain had underestimated the potential of solar energy and because of falling prices he hoped to find “new pathways* for supporting large-scale solar developments.”

Glossary accountancy: the work or profession of being an accountant achieve: succeed in doing cheaper: less costly double-glazing: using double glass panes on windows fuel: source of energy laggard: somebody or something that falls behind pathways: paths or routes predicts: foresees subsidizes: pays for part of something sustainable: (here) maintaining ecologic

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LONDON - The London City Hall Building on May 30, 2011 in London.

The building is considered a green building because photovoltaic solar panels were installed on the roof in August 2007.

9

Art and Architecture

The Fantastical (New?) Salvador Dalí Museum St. Petersburg, Florida The world’s most comprehensive collection of works by the late Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalì (1904-1989) is housed in a new and fantastical museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Michelin Guide gave the museum the only three star rating on Florida’s west coast, and AOL Travel News calls the museum “One of the top buildings you have to see before you die.” It has been praised by art lovers and architects alike. But it took some time for the collection to get to its new home. This is how it happened.

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Shortly before they married in 1942, A. Reynolds Morse & Eleanor R. Morse attended a retrospective of the work of Catalan artist Salvador Dalì at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Impressed by the artist’s work, they bought their first painting a year later. And so began the Morses’ 40-year relationship as patrons and friends of Dalí that resulted in a comprehensive collection of original Dalí work.

10

Until 1971, the Morses displayed their collection in their Cleveland, Ohio, home. When they loaned over 200 pieces to a Dalí retrospective* in 1965, they realized that 25 years of collecting produced a mini-retrospective that needed a permanent home.

In 1971, with Dalí presiding over the opening, the Morses opened a museum next door to to their office building in Beachwood, Ohio. But by the end of the decade, with an overwhelming* number of visitors, the Morses decided to again move their collection.

Their search for new premises* for the museum drew national attention, and they finally decided on a marine

warehouse* in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. The building was rehabilitated and the museum opened on March 10, 1982. But before long, the new quarters* also proved inadequate for the artwork and for the increasing number of visitors. In mid 2008, a new location for the Dali museum was announced. Designed by architectural firm HOK, it stands on the downtown waterfront* and features a large glass entryway and skylight. The building is also storm-sec ure (Florida suffers hurricanes in early autumn). It officially opened to the public on 1-11-11 at 11:11 am.

is a fine example of ‘green’ architecture, the result of many strategies employed* to create and save energy and water while also saving on management costs. This is sustainable energy at work, a fitting tribute* to a farsighted artist.

For lots more, go to the Web site at www.thedali.org

Artworks

• Yoga + Dali

The museum’s collection includes 96 oil paintings, over 100 watercolors and drawings, 1,300 graphics, photographs, sculptures and objets d’art, and an extensive archival library. Displays are periodically rotated. In addition, the museum houses 7 of the 18 masterwork* paintings by Dalí (including The Hallucinogenic Toreador and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus), the most of any museum in the world. To be considered a masterwork these paintings must be at least 5 feet in any direction and must have been worked on for over a year.

Along with the Dalí Theater-Museum created by Dalí in his home town of Figueres, Catalonia, Spain, St. Petersburg’s Dalí museum has one of the world’s largest collections of Dalí’s works. But the museum not only aims at displaying the work of Dalí. It also educates the public and promotes understanding, enjoyment and scholarly examination of art through the exhibition of works by Dalí himself and artists of similar vision. The building

More than just a museum Some interesting programs and activities offered by the museum: Sundays in September, 12:00 - 1:30 pm Yoga classes in the Community Room or Avant-Garden, with incredible views of the waterfront.

• For kids…Dillydally with Dali The creative world of Dali in the Education Classroom with stories, puzzles and activities each day of the week to allow families to explore the Museum on their own.

• Coffee with a Curator Special talks by one of the Dali Museum’s Curatorial/Education team. Focused, theme-oriented presentations on a variety of Dalirelated topics.

Glossary employed: (here) used masterwork: a great artistic work overwhelming: (here) extremely large premises: location quarters: premises retrospective: (here) an exhibition of the work of an artist showing examples from all periods and styles tribute: homage warehouse: a building used for storage waterfront: part of a town located alongside a body of water

11

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Cinema

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THE MUPPETS RETURN

12

The Muppets, the unique group of puppet characters known all around the world today, were originally created by a man named Jim Henson in 1954–55.

The characters earned* universal fame when they appeared on the American educational children’s TV show called Sesame Street and later on a show of their own, The Muppet Show. Henson, their creator, is said to have invented the word from a combination of the words “marionette” and “puppet”, although Henson once stated that he just liked the sound of the word, and made up the “marionette/puppet” story just for the fun of it while talking to a journalist because it sounded plausible*.

A common design for a Jim Henson Muppet is a character with a very wide mouth and large protruding* eyes.

The puppets are made of many types

of foam*, then covered with fleece*, fur, or any other material. Unlike ventriloquist* ‘dummies’* or puppets which are usually animated only in the head and face, Muppets arms or other features are also mobile and expressive and Muppets are made of softer materials. They are also independent of the puppeteer*, who is usually not visible—hidden behind a set or outside of the camera frame. Using the camera frame as the “stage”* was an innovation of the Muppets. Previously on television, a stage hid the performers. But the Muppets are sometimes seen fullbodied thanks to the use of invisible strings to move the characters’ bodies and mouths. Voices are added later.

When children interact with Muppets, as they did on Sesame Street, they treat the Muppets as though they were liv-

ing creatures--even when they could see the puppeteers! It has been shown that children learn extra-quickly with the help of muppets. The Muppeteer, or Muppet master, holds the Muppet above his head or in front of his body, with one hand operating the head and mouth and the other manipulating the hands and arms, either with two separate control rods or by “wearing” the hands like gloves. In advanced Muppets, several Muppeteers may control a single character; the performer who controls the mouth usually provides the voice for the character.

As technology has evolved, the Henson team and other puppeteers developed an enormous variety of means to operate Muppets for film and television.

The creative use of a mix of technologies has allowed for scenes in which

In 2004, The Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets (except for the Sesame Street Muppets which had been sold earlier to Sesame Workshop). Today the legal trademark* on the term “Muppet” belongs to The Muppets Holding Company (now The Muppets Studio, a division of The Walt Disney Company). But Sesame Workshop and The Jim Henson Company continue to use the term Muppet on their characters with certain permissions.

The most widely known TV shows featuring Muppets have been Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock and Bear in the Big Blue House.

An adult-oriented cast of Muppets appeared on the first season of Saturday Night Live. A Muppets TV special, A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, was shown on American TV in December, 2008 and released on DVD in September, 2009. Now, after more than 10 years, a new movie is about to be released. Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller have created the next Muppet movie, entitled The Muppets, which is scheduled to open at Thanksgiving, at the end of November, 2011, and will be the first Muppet theatrical film since Muppets from Space. The film stars Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog…and the other Muppets we love so well. To watch a trailer of the film and learn more interesting facts about it, go to: http://disney.go.com/muppets/

Famous Muppets from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show: Kermit the Frog Miss Piggy Fozzie Bear the Swedish Chef… …and the super-famous Sesame Street characters like Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo, Zoe, Bert and Ernie,Cookie Monster, and Grover.

Glossary dummies: large, stuffed models (usually of humans) used by ventriloquists earned: gained fleece: a soft, woolly covering foam: rubber, plastic, or other material filled with many small bubbles of air to make it soft or light plausible: believable protruding: jutting out; sticking out puppeteer: person who operates a puppet stage: platform on which actors perform trademark: company name or symbol ventriloquist: an entertainer who makes his or her voice appear to come from a dummy of a person or animal

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Muppets appear to be riding a bicycle, rowing a boat, and even dancing onstage with no puppeteer in sight.

13

Issue worksheet profile

Buy Nothing Day

pp. 4-5

Environment

Eco-friendly in Britain

pp. 8-9

Cinema

pp. 12-13

THE MUPPETS RETURN

1.

True or False:

Buy Nothing Day takes place on

1.

True or False:

1.

True or False:

the day after Christmas.

Transforming a conventional

The TV show on which the Muppets

T

F

2.

Which is the rule for Buy

home into one that is energy

first appeared was called Sesame

saving is complicated.

Street.

T

F

2.

Which of the following is NOT

T

F

2.

The word Muppet is a

Nothing Day? a. Don’t buy anything that

costs more than $10

b. Don’t buy anything.

c. Don’t buy what you can’t afford.

recommended when making

combination of which of the

your home ‘green’?

following words:

a. Double-glazing onwindows

a. mignon and petit

b. Painting the house green

b. more and poor

c. Insulating floors and roofs

c. marionette and puppet

3.

Owners of small shops should

and walls 3.

support Buy Nothing Day 3.

because: a. the shops will sell more on the next day

The British newspaper The

a. Walt Disney

Guardian estimates that solar

b. Jim Henson

panels will do what in the

c. David Letterman

future?

b. in cities and towns

The creator of the Muppets was:

Answers below

a. Cost less

everywhere the small shops are being forced to close in

b. Become obsolete

favor of large shopping

c. Cost the same

malls. c. small shops don’t need the

extra money Music

Coldplay 1.

pp. 6-7

The original members of

Art and Architecture

The Fantastical (New?) Salvador Dalí Museum St. Petersburg, Florida 1.

True or False:

The artist Salvador Dalì was from South America.

a. Oxford

b. University College London

c. NYU

T

F

2.

The Dalì museum was founded by:

2.

True or False:

a. Pablo Picasso b. A. Reynolds and Eleanor

The group’s single, ‘Yellow’, was

released in 1958.

R. Morse

T

3.

True or False:

One of the group’s albums is

14

F

3.

c. James Hensen The Dalì museum is located in the state of:

called A Rush of Blood to the

a. Florida

Feet

b. New Hampshire

T

c. New Jerse y

F

Answers to Issue Worksheet Focus p. 4-5: 1-F, 2-b, 3-b.

Coldplay p. 6-7: 1-b, 2-F, 3-T The Environment p. 8-9: 1-T, 2-b, 3-a Dalì museum p. 10-11: 1-F, 2-b, 3-a The Muppets p. 12-13: 1-T, 2-c, 3-b

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Coldplay met as students at:

pp. 10-11

Complemento operativo allegato al volume CHANGE UP Upper Intermediate. Non vendibile separatamente. Š ELI 2011

Zits

by Jerry and Jim Borgman Š ZITS Partnership. Distribuited by King Features Syndicate